Director Design

Savvas Learning Company

20h•$128,000 - $150,000•Remote

About The Position

Savvas Learning Company is a global education company that produces award-winning learning solutions that empower educators and engage students with the highest quality content. Recognized as an industry leader, we serve millions of K-12 learners with innovative, student-centered educational programs that turn today’s classrooms into active learning environments. By embracing technology, personalized learning, and immersive experiences delivered across multiple platforms, we design our learning solutions to be more accessible and relevant to each student. Our award-winning, high-quality instructional materials span every grade level and discipline, from evidence-based, standards-aligned core curricula and supplemental and intervention programs to state-of-the-art assessment tools and the industry’s most innovative portfolio of college and career readiness solutions — all designed to meet the needs of every learner. The Product Design Director for Literacy will own the vision and responsibility of providing best-in-class learning experiences and product branding for Savvas K-12 Literacy, as well as Supplemental and Intervention products and their ecosystems. The Director will provide the strategic design direction and vision for materials that support next-generation students and educators. The Director is responsible for designing and delivering frictionless experiences for Savvas customers that help deliver the brand promise. The Director collaborates effectively with a variety of business leaders, editorial leaders, instructional designers, technology leaders, product managers, creative product branding, and other key stakeholders to develop large growth businesses. The Director leads the implementation of holistic creative frameworks to deliver an innovative user experience for the Savvas product family. The Director provides thought leadership and cultivates a strong cross-discipline product team that includes Design Managers, Product Designers, Artists, Multimedia Designer/Producers, UX Researchers, Content Specialists, and developers. Holistic Design/Human-Centered Design process and methodologies are a must. The Director will champion the strategic adoption of AI tools and methodologies across the product design lifecycle to optimize team workflows, accelerate prototyping, and significantly enhance operational efficiency. Key Leadership Pillars: The Director will bring deep creative expertise, business and revenue alignment, aggressive cost optimization, and modern technological integration to ensure that design is a key driver of market leadership, cross-functional efficiency, and commercial success. Business Driven Design & Financial Ownership Collaborates with key stakeholders to define Literacy product experiences for Savvas, including continual improvement and innovation. Works as part of Product and Platform management teams to understand customer needs and the strategic goals of Savvas’s learning applications. Encourages and models the use of data to inform design strategy and decisions. Maintains alignment with project management to ensure that the design team is delivering on budget and on schedule. Assists product and project management in estimating and planning required Product Design resources and budgets to meet product delivery goals. Regularly aligns with Product Design Directors of other disciplines, seeking out opportunities to collaborate and share best practices in striving to support the Savvas brand and define a unified experience. Leads detailed project planning, budgeting, and team capacity planning in collaboration with cross-functional groups. Creates budgets and maintains close oversight of spend through production; optimizes funds by thoughtfully allocating assignments to internal staff and strategic use of vendor partners Able to balance business requirements, marketing, and analytics with design aesthetic. Manages departmental P&L and quarterly expense forecasting. Confidently represents and articulates design strategy rationale to executive leadership and the CEO. Methodologies Human-Centered Design (HCD) expert who acts as the "go to" with in-depth knowledge of user interface best practices and standards. Experience working with UX processes within Lean, Agile development methodologies. Demonstrated ability to navigate complex problems in developing holistic solutions for Product Design strategy and ecosystems. Drives and documents design standards and patterns across products. Collaborates with teams on process improvements and tool implementation to support those processes. Drives knowledge management to ensure open and clear lines of communication regarding design processes and ideas. Champions Product Design testing and user research as an integral part of the iterative product development process. Establishes and maintains customer relationships to foster Product Design opportunities. Drive design quality by leading collaborative reviews, guiding feedback discussions, and leveraging industry benchmarks and user research to act as an internal thought leader. Define user-centric experience goals and validate designs through regular testing to guarantee that the final product experience delivers high-performing results. Experience sketching, concept creation, producing IA for print and digital formats, wireframing and mapping user flows, with interactive rapid design prototyping. Champions heavy template reuse and drives design standardization across products to maximize design systems at scale. Actively explores and leverages emerging AI tools to improve productivity, workflows, and speed-to-market. Ensures all designs are optimized for usability and adhere to modern WCAG accessibility guidelines. Possesses a strong ability to utilize data visualization to explain complex ideas and structures, and secure early stakeholder and executive consensus. Supervisory Responsibilities Participates in department goal setting and performance reviews for the Product Design staff. Facilitates the success of direct reports in meeting their (and their team's) goals by supporting them to turn their strengths into higher performance, and by helping them improve on their weaknesses. Leads with compassion and empathy, with an emphasis on building a resilient, empathetic team rather than just managing staff. Establishes clear career development pathways, guiding senior designers into mentorship roles and cultivating business-minded design managers who align creative solutions with commercial goals.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) required
10+ years of enterprise creative/design management experience spanning print media and multi-platform (web, mobile, and software) UI/UX.
Experience managing a team of multi-disciplinary professionals, creative strategic outsourcing, and delivering projects in a large scale, complex enterprise environment.
Proven track record of managing high-stakes digital initiatives with major internal and/or external technology partners under aggressive timelines.
Experience overseeing multi-million dollar K-12 print and digital product portfolios.
Ability to manage multiple projects and an ability to prioritize and organize to meet tasks and deadlines.
Must be a vibrant and engaging communicator who can present concepts and ideas to all levels of the company.
Holistic Design/Human-Centered Design process and methodologies are a must.
Experience working with UX processes within Lean, Agile development methodologies.
Experience sketching, concept creation, producing IA for print and digital formats, wireframing and mapping user flows, with interactive rapid design prototyping.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a relevant field a plus.

Responsibilities

Own the vision and responsibility of providing best-in-class learning experiences and product branding for Savvas K-12 Literacy, as well as Supplemental and Intervention products and their ecosystems.
Provide the strategic design direction and vision for materials that support next-generation students and educators.
Design and deliver frictionless experiences for Savvas customers that help deliver the brand promise.
Collaborate effectively with a variety of business leaders, editorial leaders, instructional designers, technology leaders, product managers, creative product branding, and other key stakeholders to develop large growth businesses.
Lead the implementation of holistic creative frameworks to deliver an innovative user experience for the Savvas product family.
Provide thought leadership and cultivate a strong cross-discipline product team that includes Design Managers, Product Designers, Artists, Multimedia Designer/Producers, UX Researchers, Content Specialists, and developers.
Champion the strategic adoption of AI tools and methodologies across the product design lifecycle to optimize team workflows, accelerate prototyping, and significantly enhance operational efficiency.
Bring deep creative expertise, business and revenue alignment, aggressive cost optimization, and modern technological integration to ensure that design is a key driver of market leadership, cross-functional efficiency, and commercial success.
Collaborate with key stakeholders to define Literacy product experiences for Savvas, including continual improvement and innovation.
Work as part of Product and Platform management teams to understand customer needs and the strategic goals of Savvas’s learning applications.
Encourage and model the use of data to inform design strategy and decisions.
Maintain alignment with project management to ensure that the design team is delivering on budget and on schedule.
Assist product and project management in estimating and planning required Product Design resources and budgets to meet product delivery goals.
Regularly align with Product Design Directors of other disciplines, seeking out opportunities to collaborate and share best practices in striving to support the Savvas brand and define a unified experience.
Lead detailed project planning, budgeting, and team capacity planning in collaboration with cross-functional groups.
Create budgets and maintain close oversight of spend through production; optimize funds by thoughtfully allocating assignments to internal staff and strategic use of vendor partners.
Balance business requirements, marketing, and analytics with design aesthetic.
Manage departmental P&L and quarterly expense forecasting.
Confidently represent and articulate design strategy rationale to executive leadership and the CEO.
Act as the "go to" expert with in-depth knowledge of user interface best practices and standards.
Drive and document design standards and patterns across products.
Collaborate with teams on process improvements and tool implementation to support those processes.
Drive knowledge management to ensure open and clear lines of communication regarding design processes and ideas.
Champion Product Design testing and user research as an integral part of the iterative product development process.
Establish and maintain customer relationships to foster Product Design opportunities.
Drive design quality by leading collaborative reviews, guiding feedback discussions, and leveraging industry benchmarks and user research to act as an internal thought leader.
Define user-centric experience goals and validate designs through regular testing to guarantee that the final product experience delivers high-performing results.
Champion heavy template reuse and drive design standardization across products to maximize design systems at scale.
Actively explore and leverage emerging AI tools to improve productivity, workflows, and speed-to-market.
Ensure all designs are optimized for usability and adhere to modern WCAG accessibility guidelines.
Utilize data visualization to explain complex ideas and structures, and secure early stakeholder and executive consensus.
Participate in department goal setting and performance reviews for the Product Design staff.
Facilitate the success of direct reports in meeting their (and their team's) goals by supporting them to turn their strengths into higher performance, and by helping them improve on their weaknesses.
Lead with compassion and empathy, with an emphasis on building a resilient, empathetic team rather than just managing staff.
Establish clear career development pathways, guiding senior designers into mentorship roles and cultivating business-minded design managers who align creative solutions with commercial goals.